1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure of an ink-jet recording apparatus permitting at least one ink cartridge mounted thereon to be replaced, and more particular to a structure of an ink cartridge holding device which holds the at least one ink cartridge.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In an ink-jet recording apparatus, an ink droplet or ink droplets are selectively ejected from a recording head onto a recording medium, e.g., a recording sheet, based on an image data, so that an image is recorded on the recording medium. In the ink-jet recording apparatus described above, ink is normally pre-stored in a cartridge-type ink tank (hereinafter, abbreviated as “an ink cartridge”), and supplied from the ink cartridge to the recording head. Generally, depending on a manner of supplying the ink from the ink cartridge to the recording head, types of the ink-jet recording apparatus are roughly classified into following two types: so-called an “ON carriage type” and an “OFF carriage type”.
In the ink-jet recording apparatus classified as the “ON carriage type”, the ink cartridge is directly mounted on a carriage which is equipped with the recording head and which is reciprocatable above the recording sheet, so that the ink is supplied from the ink cartridge to the recording head. In the recording apparatus classified as the “OFF carriage type”, the ink cartridge is disposed on a portion located inside or outside of a body of the ink-jet recording apparatus. In this arrangement, the ink cartridge is connected, via a flexible ink supply tube, to the recording head in full time, so that the ink is supplied from the ink cartridge to the recording head.
Further, there is another “OFF carriage type” ink-jet recording apparatus in which the ink cartridge is temporarily connected to the recording head via a connecting means provided on a specific position in the ink-jet recording apparatus when the recording head is moved to the above-indicated specific position, so that the ink is supplied from the ink cartridge to the recording head. It is noted that, in order to simply a description, an “OFF carriage type” ink-jet recording apparatus to be described hereinafter is classified as the above-described “OFF carriage type” in which the cartridge is connected, via the flexible ink supply tube, to the recording head in full time, so that the ink is supplied from the at least one ink cartridge to the recording head.
In the above described ink-jet recording apparatus classified as the “OFF carriage type”, there is provided an accommodating portion for accommodating the ink cartridge, usually having a case which is provided therein for holding and stabilizing the ink cartridge. The case is connected to the recording head via the ink supply tube, etc. Further, an ink supply needle is provided inside of the case. The ink supply tube and the ink supply needle, etc., cooperatively define an ink supply channel for connecting the ink cartridge to the recording head.
In the state in which the ink cartridge is hold and stabilized by the case, the ink supply needle is inserted into an ink supply portion of the ink cartridge. In this state, the ink cartridge is connected to the ink supply channel, whereby the ink is supplied from the ink cartridge to the recording head via the ink supply channel. In this arrangement, the ink cartridge and the case are pre-constructed together as a unit which is to be set in the above-described accommodating portion of the ink-jet recording apparatus. The unit is particularly defined as a “refill unit”.
The case of the refill unit generally has a door. The door is to be closed in a state in which the ink cartridge is accommodated in the case, whereby the ink cartridge is reliably held in the case. When the ink cartridge is replaced, the door is opened so that the ink cartridge is withdrawn from the case, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6106730. In the ink-jet recording apparatus as described above, the ink cartridge needs to be replaced if the ink stored in the ink cartridge is used up.